Erring officials Banerjee and Bandekar not to get any matches

Mumbai, Dec 18 (UNI) The Board of Control for cricket in India today showed the door to two of its erring officials - match referee Sambaran Banerjee and umpire Sameer Bandekar -- for dereliction of duties during the first round Ranji Trophy Elite tie between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

The cricket board today decided not to allot any more matches to the duo during the season at its umpires sub-committee meeting which was chaired by the Board Vice President Lalit Modi here today.

The two officials had allegedly left midway through suspension of play due to bad light during the Ranji match played from December 1 to 4 and were not present for inspection of light conditions, preferring to watch an Under-22 game at a nearby ground.

Announcing the decision of the sub-committee, BCCI's joint secretary and convener M P Pandove said the committee had taken a decision ''not to give any more matches during the remainder of the season to Banerjee and Bandekar''.

''We have taken the decision on the basis of reports that we have received from the staging association (Delhi and District Cricket Association), the rival captains and media coverage of the incident,'' Pandove added.

''The two officials had given excuse that they had not gone to watch a junior match but to a hotel, but even this was unacceptable as they cannot leave the ground,'' Pandove said.

The sub-committee's decision will now have to be ratified by the BCCI's working committee at its sitting here on December 23.

UNI GS OBB AY ND1942